Boil off rates

[Covey]

So if i take a preboil gravity and find that it 1.030, and go and boil, do i wait for say 2hrs ad a rolling boil to hit the gravity i want before going ahead with the hop additions

[halite]

Hey Covey, Unless you are looking to concentrate the wort for a particular reason, a two hour boil before hop additions would be a waste of time (and energy). pre-boil gravity is just a useful indicator of whether you are on schedule to hit your OG. If you use something like BeerTools Pro to build your recipes then they will give you an estimate of what your pre-boil should be. If you only get 1030 and were aiming for something a lot higher then the problem is either that your mash needs to be a bit longer in order for conversion to take place, alternatively you could just have gotten really low efficiency for some reason (old grain for example). Instead of boiling your wort to concentrate I would recommend adding some DME about 10 minutes before the end of the boil to get the gravity points up a little bit.

Hope this helps.

[Covey]

ya i had had to add some DME to the last batch but hoping to avoid that that situation tomorrow. I think i may have sparged at too low of a temp too.

[DEMPSEY]

You need to be able to read what amount of liquid you have in your boil kettle so you can see how much you started with and what is lift after your boil. 60 to 90 minute boil times are the norm.

[Covey]

ya im currently measuring via a dip stick which is crap, bought bits and piece for a sight glass but can seem to find any clear poly tubing